Well, it is officially my second transfer! It is kinda weird to think about it, actually. On one hand, I feel as though I have been in Otsu for my entire life and other times, it seems as though I arrived here yesterday. It especially feels like I arrived here yesterday when trying to take Yamamoto choro to everywhere we need to go. It kinda feels ridiculous. I will tell you more about those exciting experiences later in the email.
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| Nelson choro & Klein choro |
-The English classes are going pretty well, I think. We have grown by a couple of people since my first time teaching English class. It is pretty fun. Hard, because we aren`t allowed to speak any Japanese during English class to help the students out (I got chewed out on that) but, never the less, it is fun to see how interested the Japanese people are to learn English. I taught beginners English class last transfer, so I am moving to teach the Intermediate English class this transfer. I think it will be a lot easier to teach and for them to understand me now, though. There are usually about 7 people showing up total.
-We have to study at the church most mornings. Except for Sunday and Monday, we always study at the church. We don`t study at the church on Monday because it is preperation day and we don`t study Sunday because the church is really loud on Sunday. No kidding, the Japanese think that church attendence is an all day festival - they stay there for several hours after all their meetings are over with! We can`t study with all the noise that is going on on Sunday, so we study in the apartment.
-We do have an actual church meeting house. I think that it is quite nice. Some areas in the mission definitely have the sketchy shed for a church though, others have the 'church over the dentists office' kind of deal.
-We don`t usually run into our neighbors, we miss each other heading out for church study, and, for them, work. I don`t think that they really care about us being there though, as long as we don`t force them to convert.
-The ward is awesome. I love it! They are absolutely amazing! Especially Bishop H.
- I have had to speak at church. It was my second week in Japan, actually. Did I not tell you that? I had to give a 10 minute talk on why I came on a mission. Needless to say, I was stressed about it.
-For other Americans in the ward, it is just the Boettcher (I actually have no idea how they spell their name) family. As for Americans in Otsu, there are none, I have only seen a couple of American tourists walking around in my 7 weeks here. You see more and more the closer you get to Kyoto, though.
-The American food that I miss the most is steak. Meat is EXTREMELY expensive there in Japan. No kidding. When you buy enough meat for one person for one meal it costs $25! For one person! I realize how cheap American food is and how much you get!
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| Dinner with the Boettcher family |
Well, it was great hearing about how your weeks have gone.
Madisen and Vic seem pretty good (considering Madisen lost all of her wisdom, don`t it suck?). I wish that Madisen would have said funnier things though, besides "I can`t see" At least that is better than me, I don`t think that I said anything weird at all. So, it is lots of ice cream for you, Madisen! I'm sure that will be fun after your stomach can handle it. I'm sure that Vic had a great time taking pictures of you will you were to drugged up. I remember when I got my wisdom teeth out...it was terrible, so I feel ya. Your work schedule never fails to confuse me, though, Madisen. I swear nothing in that office ever stays the same, there are always moving pieces.
I'm glad that Dad is happy about the Utes winning...I`m not though...I wish that USU would have won again this year. I'm sorry to hear that the lawn mower is offically gone though. KSL ads are really something. I have been telling you for years to get rid of that thing. Now you can finally buy a new one! Yea! I also heared that you might, seceretly, have liked Swiss Days. You even bought something for the trailer! That's so funny, everyone is putting so much time and energy into that thing.
Elizabeth that sounds terrible about your wrists though. I can`t believe that you hurt them that bad. Even having to get physical therapy?! Thats insane. I hope that you have a quick recovery from it from now on though. Dr. Haderlie knows what he is doing. I also hear that you are really excited for the One Direction movie. I hope that you have a great time at it. While I don`t understand all the excitment over it, I am excited that you are excitied. It also sounds like you are taking Dance again? Wow, well good luck, Hip Hop will probably really fun. I was about your age when I stopped taking art too. I hope that you have fun during dance though! Don`t worry about your letter length, It is all about the heart of it.
Mom, I`m glad that you finally got a raise at work! Finally! I can`t believe that it has taken this many years for it though. I think one Saturday a month is totally worth it. Swiss Days also sounds like it has taken quite a hit this year. I think Mom might be onto something when saying that Pinterest has had an impact on it. While I don`t think Pinterest is the sole reason, I think that the Internet and having instructions on how to do cool things by yourself has definitely had an impact on the arts and crafts at Swiss Days. I also am really grateful that you sent me some news from the outside world. It is great to keep up a little bit on things like that.
Well, this week sure has been interesting though. First, the last couple of days with Nelson choro were pretty fun riding our bikes everywhere. When he heard he was leaving Otsu, he wanted to give his meshis (name\business cards) to all of our investigators. Problem is that our investigators don`t live anywhere near close to each other. So we biked, a lot. Its ok, I think I can say that I am pretty pro at riding a bike now.
The day came for us to finally start our transfer. On Friday, we had to head down to Sannomia station in Kobe to meet up with our new companions. After talking with some of my MTC friends, I finally found Yamamoto choro. I tried to talk to him in Japanese, then quickly realized he spoke perfect English. I, then, asked him where he was from and he said Provo, Utah. I felt kinda stupid though, but with a name like Yamamoto choro, who wouldn`t have thought he was Nihonjin?! His parents are both Japanese, but he only spoke Japanese for a little bit when he lived in Japan when he was smaller. He and his parents moved to America and Yamamoto choro lived there until coming on his mission. Nevertheless, you can see a few Japanese qualities in him. He speaks really good Japanese (doesn`t know Kanji, though, so it might be hard to get places) and says `Hai!` a lot.
We came back and I briefed him on our Area in Weekly Planning. Ever since then, I have been taking the lead in planning and everything since he doesn`t know all of our investigators and doesn`t know the area. It has been pretty tough. For right now, I kinda feel like the senior companion.
I got the postal slip and will go pick up my package from you today!
I love you all so much. Thank you for everything that you do for me. I can`t thank you enough. Truly.
With Love,
Klein choro
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